


Bad Skeptic

by sozmom



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Feelings, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, M/M, Shane is a boy with too much emotion, lil angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2017-12-09
Packaged: 2019-02-12 08:49:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12955650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sozmom/pseuds/sozmom
Summary: Cynicism sorta came with the territory of being a skeptic. Shane always saw the most negative explanation before the positive because that was usually the more plausible one. Good things could happen in the world, but shitty things were just statistically more likely to happen.But sometimes Shane's a really bad skeptic, especially when Ryan smiles at him in just the right way





	Bad Skeptic

Cynicism sorta came with the territory of being a skeptic. Shane always saw the most negative explanation before the positive because that was usually the more plausible one. Good things could happen in the world, but shitty things were just statistically more likely to happen.

But sometimes Shane's a really bad skeptic, especially when Ryan smiles at him in just the right way. With the muted light of the setting sun making his skin so very warm Shane could almost believe that Ryan was smiling at him like that because he was in love with him.

It almost shameful how long it took his mind to catch up with reality and provide that ' _no, Shane, you're projecting'_. He was hoping and not deducing. But then was he really to blame for falling in love with someone who couldn't possibly love him back.

\----------------------

"Coffee?" Shane asks as he stretches in his desk chair. They had been editing for way too long, sitting in one position was doing a number on his back. Honestly he thought he'd have a few more years before his body started to betray him.

"Uhhh yeah" Ryan replies distractadly, eyes still firmly glued to the computer screen. His hair is tousled from running his hand through it and his contacts had been traded out for a set of black rim glasses. Shane can't help but indulge himself and stare a little. He was definitely suffering some Bergara deficiency today.

"Great I'll have mine black with two sugars" Shane says because he wants Ryan's eyes on him, he wants a reaction, an acknowledgement of Shane's presence that goes beyond a mindless reply.

Is this how Ryan felt calling out to those ghosts, hoping from a sign from beyond the grave. ' _Hey Ryan stop being in your own little realm and look at me like I look at you dammit'_ Shane's mind calls out pleadingly. Not missing the irony of it all.

"Asshole" Ryan breathes out a laugh, finally turning those puppy eyes towards Shane. Its like a weight being lifted off his chest to finally, _finally_ have Ryan looking at him.

Its dumb but Shane can't seem to think intelligently when it comes to Ryan.

Shane laughs like he isn't experiencing the worst case of one sided love in the world and rises to a stand. "I'm kidding" He says although it doesn't need saying. Ryan tilts his head up to track the movement and there it is.

There's that smile that Shane craved like a man on heroin.

Its the smile that ruins his thoughts at night and makes him almost believe the impossible. Ryan's smile right now isn't toothy like it usually is on camera or off with other people. It appears to be a smile reserved for Shane only. It reaches his eyes and seems to be almost fond. Ryan gives him this gift of a smile when he's at his most vulnerable, when he's relaxed and comfortable and his guards aren't up like usual.

When he and Shane have set aside the roles of skeptic and believer and just become people. Friends. Shane should be grateful for just that. For having the opportunity to be someone Ryan cares about and yet he can't help his heart from wanting more.

He can't help but hope that Ryan wants it too.

\--------------------------

Cameras on and Shane gets free reign with an excuse he's worn well into the ground.

"Oh baby" He says loving how it trips off his tongue. Its not the word really, just the fact that he gets to call Ryan that and not have to deal any consequences because its for the camera right?

The way he tries almost desperately to tempt some laughter from Ryan is just for the camera as well - including the expectant stare he gives his cohost as he waits for the joke to land.

He never has to wait long. Their senses of humor align so perfectly that Ryan gets it almost immediately - and sometimes Shane is blessed and gets that bright bubbly laughter to fill the room and he knows its gonna be a pain in the ass to edit out some of the longer ones but can't seem to care.

Sometimes Shane isn't blessed with laughter but with something much worse, that turns his brain to mush- Ryan's quick tongue. The man could dish as much as he took and Shane loved it. And while its also a pain in the ass to edit his own long bouts of laughter it makes him a tin foil hat believer again.

The jokes are so directed at him, playing so much to his idea of comedy that Ryan had to want a reaction out of him. Ryan had to be thinking of ways to make him laugh. Ryan sometimes looked at him like he was waiting for it even.

But then again the camera was constantly in Shane's mind. His well worn excuse could be Ryan's sole reasoning.

"Oh we're going there baby" Ryan says, half smile driving Shane just as insane as the words out of the very same lips.

It flowed almost naturally, fits too perfectly that it just couldn't be for the cameras.

Dear god let it not just be for the cameras.

\-------------------------------

Data - that was the grounds for any scientific research and if Shane was going to be true to his skepticism he needed data on Ryan Bergara. Not the stuff he'd already collected by just being in his company. All of that was skewed with _feelings_ and other factors that could tamper with the proof.

Proof of what? Proof that Shane wasn't insane and Ryan did act differently around him. Proof that Ryan may actually have feelings for him. He felt like those doctors buying the bigfoot carcass in hopes it's the real deal. He just hopes he won't end with a rubber gorilla suit.

He doesn't get to go to the other buzzfeed offices often but when he has to opportunity he seizes it. Besides this was _his_ office.

" Shane right?" Brent finds him before he finds Brent. Shane offers a friendly smile and holds his hand out for the man to shake. They had never formally met - Brent was out of their office before they could. Shane had of course watched all of his and Ryan's episodes before taking the job but still to see the man in front of him was a different thing. 

He's not expecting the flare of jealousy in him.

"Bront" Shane jokingly replies because he knows how to keep people at ease even at his own expense. As expected Brent laughs but Shane notes that it doesn't quite reach his eyes.

"You're here for the cat video today right?" Brent asks, leaning casually against the desk beside him. He seems to be looking Shane up and down, not appreciatively, more like he's trying to figure him out. "Yeah I was promised some fuzzy boys" Shane answers, shifting under Brents intense stare.

"Well lucky for us I heard the kitties are almost here" Brent continues conversationally, although his body demeanor is saying an almost entirely different thing.

"Cool - wait, us?" Shane questions attention drawn towards Brents face. The other man smiles like he'd just heard the best news, amusement twinkling in his eyes.

"Oh didn't you hear? We're screen buddies today!"

\--------------------------------

Shane had been hoping to maybe chat to Brent after filming what seemed to be a 'grown men play with kittens' video however now his plans had been slightly derailed. He won't have the same excuse to talk to him after spending an entire shooting day with him and he most certainly won't be able to ask anything about Ryan on camera.

Today was gearing up to be a complete waste of Shane's time.

 _Great_.

He spends a brief stint in hair and makeup before he gets sat next to Brent with a camera pointed towards them and kittens ready to be unleashed. He throws on a camera persona and tries his best to remember the facts they gave him about animal adoption centres.

They cycle through a couple of kittens, not ignoring each other exactly but certainly interacting more with the kittens than the people in the room.

Not sitting in front of a computer screen all day and hanging out with some cute cats was a little bit of consolidation for having his data collecting plans thwarted. He was man enough to admit that as he waved goodbye to the last of the kittens.

"Okay we have one more kitten for you guys" The animal centre lady says as she brings forth a dark straggly looking kitty. Shane melts as he accepts the tiny thing into his arms, almost cooing at the small life form before him. He can hear Brents delighted gasp beside him and decides the guys not so bad after all.

"So this ones a lil special for you two" Ashley tells them from behind the camera. "Why's that?" Brent asks, reaching to give the little guy some head scratches to which the cat purrs adorably at.

Shane leans towards the other man to give him more access, absolutely besotted with the kitten.

"Because his name's Ryan. Since both of you were or are hosts on buzzfeed unsolved I reckoned it was fitting" She reveals and Shane can't help but freeze.

"I mean he looks kinda like Ryan - he's as small as him" Brent jokes continuing to pet the cat as if the air hadn't thickened with underlying tension.

Shane needs to move or do something so its not obvious how completely dumb-founded he feels.

"Well if that's the case then sorry Brent but you had your time with Ryan. My turn now" He jokes, except its not a joke - not really. Shane rises and takes the kitten with him who seems so content in his arms. "Hey" Brent protests sarcastically but for some reason Shane can just tell he sees right through him.

He continues the gag and leaves the set with the cat in tow. He can hear laughter from behind him but his heart hammers a little in his chest.

"Ryan huh?" He breaths out once they're alone the safety of the hallway. He looks down at the kitten and it gazed curiously back at him, reaching its paw up only for its nails to get caught in Shane's thick knit jumper. He gently extracts the tiny paw and hates how his heart swells with pure affection.

"Fuck" He gently breathes out before getting his bearings and return to the set to give the kitten back.

\----------------------------

In the end he winds up back at his own office with no information on Ryan. He does however confirm that, yes, he was truly so fucking in love with his co-host. And yes, he was completely and utterly screwed.

"How'd it go" Ryan had asked him when he arrived back.

"Went well, saw some cute small animals" Shane told him, keeping his answer to the bare minimum. He doesn't even mention Brent for his own selfish peace of mind.

"You couldn't have snuck one back for us?" Ryan asks, pretending to be offended that Shane didn't think of him. Shane can't help but smile down at him, his head is light as some of the tension of the day wears off but his chest is heavy with the want inside of his heart.

"Sorry but I don't think the nice cat lady would've been too happy about that"

Ryan's laughter fills the quiet office.

Shane may have left with no new information but knowing how to make Ryan Bergara laugh was something he'd have engraved in his memory forever.

\-------------------------------

The kitten video comes out a week later and Ryan texts him immediately

**You didn't tell me you saw Brent???**

Shane stares down at the screen, feeling a little guilty for keeping it from Ryan. He didn't even have a good explanation for why.

_**Oh so that was bront** _

He sends the text and hopes that deflecting enough will solve any possible follow up questions.

**Asshole**

The text comes almost instantaneously and Shane can somehow hear Ryan's fond breathy laugh through the pixels on his phone screen.

He struck so suddenly with the thought that he shouldn't be sat alone in his apartment at 8 at night texting the guys he's helplessly in love with. He should be sat with Ryan watching the damn cat video and making fun of all of the dumb shit he'd said and done while enraptured with the kittens. He should just be with Ryan and Ryan should be with him because it just makes sense.

_**Wanted to surprise you ;)** _

Shane sends it because he knows Ryan won't read into it like he reads into all of Ryan's texts. He doesn't get an immediate response and nearly worries that he'd fucked up some how.

**I'm definitely surprised at the possessiveness**

Oh ... Yeah. Shane nearly forgot about that. He buries his face in his couch pillows and let's out a long suffering groan. Well in for a penny in for a pound.

_**Brenc needed to know that its my show now. I was just asserting my dominance as the alpha skeptic.** _

Its a dumb text overall but he knows Ryan will get a kick out of it.

**Thats kinda hot**

What

What response even is _that_.

How far could he push this? How much flirting could he do before Ryan got weirded out. How did Ryan not even realise what an open invitation that was.

Shane wasn't going to sleep well tonight it seemed.

_**Didn't realise you had a dom kink Bergara.** _

Its almost ridiculous how eagerly he awaits the next text. 

  
**Shut up Madej**

  
There's as much relief as there is disappointment.

\------------------------

Shane's never scared. Not really. He jokes about forced heroine addictions but he just knows that won't ever be an issue. He just says it because he knows it makes Ryan feel better.

His fight or flight hormone was always set on fight mode. He'd rather stand his ground yelling at any potential danger than run helplessly away. What good was running from it?

He was never scared no matter what cockroach infested shithole they'd decided to venture in to. No matter if a flash light bugs out with a possible demonic influence. No matter how many tapping sounds he hears. He was proud of how steady his heart beat always was. It would be a trial to send him into cardiac arrest even in the worst situations.

Still, standing in front of Ryan - something ... _something_ in the air between them that beckons change - fucking terrifies him.

It would take no effort to reach between them, to close that final distance and finally have everything his heart yearned for. Ryan is looking at him so intently, the proof so readily etched into his face. If this were an unsolved episode Shane would comb over every audio clip to see if Ryan's heart skipped a beat when Shane moved a little closer - if his breath hitched. He'd slow down the footage of Ryan's face in hopes of seeing dilated pupils and a look that mirrored Shane's own.

He would tell the world the case of Ryan Bergara's feelings towards him was solved.

Except he's too chicken-shit to do it. To go all in and find the evidence he needs. To just _try_  like every week when Ryan called out to the unknown.

In some ways Ryan is braver than him. Ryan is terrified when ever they go investigating, literally sweating so much its concerning. But Ryan looks at that fear and does everything despite it. Shane can't. He just can't risk being wrong. He so scared he's practically paralysed. He's a fucking coward - but Ryan never was.

So instead of Shane breaching that distance Ryan does it. Rocking onto his tiptoes and giving Shane the ghost of a kiss.

Its the first time his heart ever stops with pure fear.

\------------------------------------

  
"I'll make a believer out of you yet" Ryan teasingly promises, nudging his elbow into Shane's ribs. His eyes are alight with excitement for the new case. Shane can do nothing but stare in amusement at Ryan's child-like enthusiasm.

"Sure you will" He deadpans, rolling his eyes a little. Its all for show though, Ryan may not be able to convince Shane that ghosts are real but he's made him believe in something else entirely.

He's not the best skeptic in the world - but Ryan doesn't seem to mind. 

"Just you wait baby-"

Ryan doesn't seem to mind one bit.

**Author's Note:**

> I just thought it would be fun to make Shane suffer for a while. Comment and leave kudos if you liked it!
> 
> Follow me @plupplemadej on tumblr to scream about bu with me.


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